Grizzlies Fall 5-3 in Weekend Series Opener

Grizzlies Fall 5-3 in Series Opener

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies fall 5-3 to the Rapid City Rush in the weekend series opener at Maverik Center. The Rush were led by a 1 goal and 1 assist performance from Ryan Wagner.

Rapid City scored a power play goal 3:09 into the contest on Deni Goure’s 13^th of the season. Rush led 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.

Utah got on the board 26 seconds into the second period as Reed Lebster scored his 13^th of the season. Lebster now has a point in 8 straight games. The Rush took a 2-1 lead on a Braeden Tuck goal 6:16 in. The Rush extended the lead to 3-1 on a Connor Mylymok power play goal 18:34 in. Rapid City led 3-1 after 2 frames.

Rush captain Ryan Wagner scored a 4 on 4 goal 20 seconds into the third period as they took a 4-1 lead. Cole Gallant scored for Utah 14:43 in. Gallant now has a goal in back to back games. Just 30 seconds later Rush forward Chaz Smedsrud scored his 11^th of the campaign to gave RC a 5-2 lead. Briley Wood scored 17:49 into the third period from the right point. Wood led Utah with 8 shots on goal.

The Rush held on for the victory as Matt Radomsky stopped 34 of 37 as he helped extend Rapid City’s winning streak to 7. Rapid City had a good night on the special teams as they were 2 for 6 on the power play, Utah was 0 for 3.

Cole Gallant and Reed Lebster each had 1 goal, 1 assist and a +2 rating. Adam Berg had 2 assists and a +3 rating.

Grizzlies Fight Cancer Weekend continues on Saturday night at 7:10 pm in the second of the three-game series. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.

3 stars